Interview with Amogh Symphony

Depending on the album or track, you could transpose the music of Amogh Symphony to a rock opera, a New French Extremity film or a meditation tape for headbangers. Avant-garde might seem like a pallid descriptor, but it hints at the innumerable musical influences and specters that hover in their work.

It’s easy to intellectualize their music, given its genre-bending meanderings. But the stories told in each song are immensely colorful and to the rightly inclined listener, they reveal equal measures of ecstasy and despondence.

These songs require only the most devoted attention, and will do nothing for a passing listen. The band is a collection of different minded individuals who find common ground in their particular brand of strange thought. They also frequently collaborate with equally eclectic musicians, always creating sounds which challenge, intrigue and sometimes intimidate.

While you don’t label your work, how would you talk about it to someone approaching it for the first time?

Honestly, I would leave this to the fans and listeners. I am cool with whatever they call it. The music has no limit. All it needs is an open mind.

If you treated Amogh Symphony’s music as a metaphor, it would be a complex, unbreakable creation that brings varied types of people, ethnicities, cultures under one giant roof, where language has no alphabets and no scriptures. As long as the music and the messages organically reach people who connect with it, I have nothing else to say.

Where does your sound come from? Not simply what inspires it, but what is it attempting to put out into the world?

I believe new ideas, with art in general, are often either misunderstood or not understood and appreciated by many people. That totally doesn’t stop Art from growing into people’s minds. Your art can be political or spiritual. You either make music and film for the mass or to represent only your thoughts – both are absolutely valid.

I believe in “togetherness” which isn’t possible geographically or politically but it is possible in art and music. For example – some Amogh Symphony fans are scientists and researchers, some are librarians, some are tarot card readers and spiritual healers. Some are not even active on social media.

The art one creates with honesty and straight out of deep consciousness is very much like telepathy. It connects with certain people at a certain time with similar minds and wavelengths. For example – When the first three albums were released, initially some people didn’t get it and some hated it but after a few years, there is sudden rise in listeners for these two albums. I have understood this flow of connection between artist and audience while studying works of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kamal Swaroop, Jyoti Prasad, Aleksandr Sokurov, Joris Ivens, Maya Deren, Trilok Gurtu and John Cage.

I still don’t make much money for survival from what I create but deep inside my conciousness, I think I am doing what I was born for. Yet to find answers by connecting with more people and we will see.

If one of your albums could be the soundtrack to any film, which (one or more) would it be? Why do you think these aesthetics would match?

As a Film Music Director myself, I think the songs would make proper sense only if it matches the script and editing of the film. With some slight little changes in editing, Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s Pushpak, Higuchinsky’s Spirals, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, Kamal Swaroop’s Om-Dar-Ba-Dar, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, David Lynch’s Rabbits and Tatsuo Satō‘s Catsoup. One can play “Vectorscan” and the new album “IV – Pt. 1 and Pt.2” as soundtracks/bgm to these films if the films and the tracks are re-edited little bit.

The first two albums are very sci-fi and cyberpunk. Anybody who likes sci-fi films and game soundtracks like The Matrix, Doom etc can feel these two albums as soundtracks to such films and games.

Why is there such a multiplicity of sounds in your work? Do they represent an equally large variety of thoughts, opinions, inspiration?

Any fans of Amogh Symphony who listened to all albums and singles can tell that it’s changing and growing with every song and album. Means, the thoughts and inspirations are not limited at all. The varied musical influences came from my childhood. I was also born with a knack for combining two or more different elements to create something which raises questions towards scripted and planned ideologies and concepts of art, life, society and religion.

What is the most flattering terms in which your music has been described?

Some fans and friends described my music as “Alien core”, “Robot Jazz”, “World Metal”, “Hybrid Metal” etc years ago. Some descriptions on YouTube are hilarious and at the same time very flattering. Like –

” it sounds like a robot with seven swords and party of 12 players going in a raid. mega-tastic”.

“Its like jazz , blues and metal had a 3-way. Had a kid .. kid mingled with electronica … ran off with djent .. found the true meaning of music.. attained moksha .. died .. heard the universe .. came back as a consiousness … came into this guys head and showed him the what he heard.”

How do you know which musician to collaborate with? How do you find them in the first place?

I personally prefer to collaborate with a musician who wants to write and/or play out of the box, who are open minded but often rejected for their boundary-pushing ideas. Musicians with whom I can learn new things, who are non-judgemental and risk-takers. I look for “creative commonness” first. Like, if i want to write a spiritual song about God or higher form of energy, I would rather collaborate with someone unknown who understands this vibe and style of songwriting than a musician who is very popular and technical.

What is the darkest place your music has gone to?

I don’t really want to remember it or talk about it much. But I can definitely tell you that Vectorscan (third album) is my darkest. Not just because I was studying Occult and Necromancy at that time but also I was going through very disturbing and unexplainable situations.

I am glad it lasted for short time. This album is deeper and mystical than any other musical works of mine and I am always proud of it. But if you know about Musical Cryptography, Vectorscan was my experiment after 3 years of study. Bad thing – It almost got me killed. Good thing – This whole experience taught me many things but mostly why is it so important to talk about the balance between mental health and creativity among artists.

Do you think your music is conducive to live audiences?

Absolutely. But only with visuals. This isn’t a band of instrumentalists displaying their skills. This band is all about songwriting with visuals.

How are you perceived among listeners?

Unique, Rebel, Self-believe, Self-confident, Warrior, not afraid of the world and rejection, patience, calm but focused, ambitious, shapeless, formless, no boundaries, togetherness, accepting the universe the way it is, non-judgemental, open mind and taking art to the level of consciousness awareness.

Is “IV” more “accessible”?

Honestly, I did not even think about it while writing. Words like “accessible” and “commercial” doesn’t even make sense when you create something in your consciousness. You never know what will happen next. I second Derick’s words – “for us it’s just a reflection of who we are and where we are at this point in the world.”